Saturday, September 12, 2009

Page 6

This is the page where Charlie first mentions the truck that Billy Black had offered to sell him for Bella's use. Notice how worried he is that the conversation will take a wrong turn.

When Bella asks the year of the vehicle, the following is Charlie's response.

"Well, Billy's done a lot of work on the engine - it's only a few years old, really."

He's very defensive of the truck, as if he expects Bella to disapprove.

When I was Bella's age my own father bought me an old car. It was a Dodge Aries, from the mid 80's. If I had asked as many questions about the vehicle as Bella did, in the way that she asked (as though reserving judgement until the details were disclosed - also known as looking a gift horse in the mouth), my father would have changed his mind about buying it for me, and probably would have never bought me another thing. And the lecture I would have been subjected to about being thankful for what I have...I don't even want to think about it.

Of course, on page six Bella does not yet know that Charlie has bought the vehicle for her, or even that he was considering buying it for her, but it's pretty clear that he is trying his best to help her. Bella's critical tone jumps off of the page.

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What's my beef with Bella Swan? She sets women back a hundred years!

First off, let me introduce myself. My name is Cheryl, and I'm a 27 year old writer from Ontario, Canada. I am a wife, and mother of two children (a five year old son, and a six year old daughter). I like to read. I'll read nearly anything. Fantasy books, horror novels, dramas, the completely obscure and the super popular. Lately I've been really enjoying the popular stuff.I'm an insane Harry Potter fan - you know, one of those people who buy the merchandise and see each movie a dozen times in the theatres and WB even richer (as of last night I've seen HBP eight times in theatres). Anyway, about a year ago, the hype for the first Twilight movie alerted me to the existence of this book series. Headlines like "Move Over Harry Potter", and "The Next J.K. Rowling" kept me on the edge of my seat as I read, waiting for the great finale that would blow me away. Here's my honest opinion of the Twilight series. I have read the entire series through once, and I enjoyed it. I view the books as a series of light, fluffy, Sunday afternoon reads. Not particularly thought provoking, and certainly not something that should be mentioned in the same sentence as Harry Potter. I did enjoy the books. Honestly I do, though I strongly believe that they're drastically over rated. But the hype for the series persists, and one element of the story stuck with me, and has festered like an infected wound. The element is this: While the majority of the preteen female population aspires to grow up to be swept off her feet by a glittering vampire, the main character, Bella Swan, is not a person I would want my daughter to view as a role model. In this blog I intend to prove that on each and every page of the first Twilight novel Bella sets a pathetic example for our young girls by acting the part of the 1950's housewife, willing to sacrifice everything for her man.I will read one page of the first Twilight novel each day and discuss Bella's actions or thoughts, or the actions of her role models. Some pages, of course, will be more difficult than others. Some will probably be a stretch. It will take well over a year to complete this task, but I'm up for the challenge. Tomorrow is the first day back at school for my children. I will post my analysis for the first page then, and again each following day. One last thing. The purpose of this blog is to analyze Bella's character, and not to compare Twilight to Harry Potter. I will do my best to limit such comparisons, but make no promises. I have to admit that all of the "Next J.K. Rowling" crap is starting to irk the hell out of me.

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What's my beef with Bella Swan? She sets women back a hundred years!
First off, let me introduce myself. My name is Cheryl, and I'm a 27 year old writer from Ontario, Canada. I am a wife, and mother of two children (a five year old son, and a six year old daughter).